[News Terms] "I Like 'Dogecoin'"... Musk Becomes Doge Minister

Musk Appointed Head of US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
Coincides with Cryptocurrency 'Dogecoin' Name, Drawing Attention
Investors Should Be Cautious as Musk's Words Cause Fluctuations

Elon Musk (53), CEO of Tesla, who has publicly expressed his love for 'Dogecoin (DOGE Coin),' has officially become the Doge Minister. On the 12th (local time), President-elect Donald Trump officially nominated Musk as the head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the next administration.

President-elect Trump emphasized, "The Department of Government Efficiency will dismantle bureaucracy in the U.S. government, eliminate excessive regulations, reduce wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies." Trump also announced that Vivek Ramaswamy, who once competed against him in the Republican presidential primary, will co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Musk.

Dogecoin Meme
Photo by Elon Musk, X (formerly Twitter) personal account

The acronym DOGE for the Department of Government Efficiency coincidentally shares the same name as the virtual asset Dogecoin, which Musk has promoted, sparking public interest. Some speculate that the name was deliberately chosen to match the coin's name.

Dogecoin is an open-source virtual asset developed in 2013 based on Litecoin's code. It was created by Billy Markus, a former IBM developer, and Jackson Palmer, a former Microsoft (MS) developer. They made Dogecoin as a joke to satirize the irrational hype surrounding virtual assets. Initially called a 'joke currency,' this coin has now become the leading meme coin.

As is typical with meme coins, Dogecoin uses the popular internet meme 'Shibe doge' as its mascot. The dog breed in the Shibe doge meme is the Japanese Shiba Inu, and it is known that the name was intentionally misspelled from the English spelling of Shiba dog.

Shiba Inu meme
Photo by Online Community

The real model for this meme was a rescue dog named 'Kabosu (2006?2024),' adopted in 2008 by Atsuko Sato, a kindergarten teacher in Japan. In 2010, Atsuko posted a photo of Kabosu on her blog. Kabosu's expression and posture in the photo were unique: sitting with front paws neatly together and eyes wide open with a coy expression. Someone named the dog 'Doge,' and as it gained popularity on the internet, it began to be reproduced in various meme forms.

It was not the two developers but Musk who boosted Dogecoin. In April 2019, Musk showed interest by tweeting on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, "Dogecoin might be my favorite cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool."

Following his words, Dogecoin's price experienced wild fluctuations. In April 2021, when news broke that he would appear on the famous American comedy show SNL, he posted "The Dogefather," raising investors' expectations. However, during the SNL appearance, he joked that "Dogecoin is a hustle," causing the price to drop 38% from its peak. When he tweeted about allowing Tesla merchandise to be purchased with Dogecoin, the price surged over 25%.

Introduction to Dogecoin
[Photo by Dogecoin Official Website]

Dogecoin's price continues to soar daily. With Musk appointed as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Dogecoin is automatically benefiting from promotional effects due to the shared acronym. There are forecasts that it might be the first meme coin to surpass $1. However, industry experts advise caution in investing, as Dogecoin's meme coin nature leads to high volatility and unlimited supply.